Chapter Summary:
The condition of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in April of 1944 was alarming - "god-awful," as described by a physician who had examined the president. This physician diagnosed FDR with congestive heart failure and hypertension, both seriously dangerous ailments, and suggested strict dietary, physical, mental, and medical changes to improve his condition. The president's own personal physician Dr. McIntire, however, refused to acknowledge these findings - he seemed to be in denial about the state of the president, as well as his own misjudgments. Almost no one who knew about FDR's fatal heart problems wanted to tell him about it, partly in fear and probably partly with good intentions (refer to the article on "How to Keep Well," that suggests that forgetting about an illness helps keep stress levels down), hoping that the president would continue on for his fourth term in office, no matter how numbered they knew that his days were. They recognized that Roosevelt needed to stay in office, for it was the climax of the war and no one wanted to lose him as a leader, no matter what it would do to his health. Roosevelt, however, possibly knew about the risks and would want to stay in office no matter what, because he wasn't about to take orders from any doctors and abandon his country in need - "he was in it for the duration."
Chapter Reflection:
In my opinion, it was the duty of the president's physicians to let him know the state of his health, especially as dire as it was, no matter what the outcome was. Even if all of the doctors felt that it wasn't there right to tell the president what he should do, they should have at least told him about his conditions and the suggestions they had to prolong his life, which I'm pretty sure he would have wanted to hear, even if to serve the term and better serve his country. McIntire's "look-see's" seemed almost too casual - shouldn't he have been paying better attention to one of the most important men in the world at the time? His employer?
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